Lai Min

Lai Min (c. 160s – 260s),[lower-alpha 1] courtesy name Jingda, was an official and scholar of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China.

Lai Min
來敏
General Who Behaves Cautiously
(執慎將軍)
In office
? (?) – ? (?)
MonarchLiu Shan
Household Counsellor (光祿大夫)
In office
? (?) – ? (?)
MonarchLiu Shan
Empress's Chamberlain (大長秋)
In office
after 234 (after 234) – ? (?)
MonarchLiu Shan
General Who Assists the Army
(輔軍將軍)
In office
227 or later (227 or later) – before 234 (before 234)
MonarchLiu Shan
ChancellorZhuge Liang
Army Libationer (軍祭酒)
In office
227 or later (227 or later) – before 234 (before 234)
MonarchLiu Shan
ChancellorZhuge Liang
Huben General of the Household
(虎賁中郎將)
In office
223 (223) – ? (?)
MonarchLiu Shan
ChancellorZhuge Liang
Crown Prince's Household Steward
(太子家令)
In office
221 or later (221 or later) – 223 (223)
MonarchLiu Bei
ChancellorZhuge Liang
Personal details
Bornc. 160s[lower-alpha 1]
Xinye County, Henan
Diedc. 260s (aged 96)[lower-alpha 1]
Relations
  • Lai Xi (ancestor)
  • Huang Wan (brother-in-law)
ChildrenLai Zhong
FatherLai Yan
OccupationOfficial, scholar
Courtesy nameJingda (敬達)
In this Chinese name, the family name is Lai.

Life

Lai Min was from Xinye County (新野縣), Yiyang Commandery (義陽郡), which is present-day Xinye County, Henan. He was born sometime in the 160s during the Eastern Han dynasty. His ancestor was Lai Xi (來歙; died 35 CE), an official who served under Emperor Guangwu (r.  25–57 CE), the first Eastern Han emperor.[2] His father, Lai Yan (來豔), was known for being studious and hospitable towards retainers. Lai Yan served as a government official and rose to the position of Minister of Works (司空) during the reign of Emperor Ling (r.  168–189).[3][4][5]

When chaos broke out towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, Lai Min and his elder sister fled south to Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan) to evade trouble. Lai Min's elder sister married Huang Wan (黃琬), a nephew of the grandmother of Liu Zhang, the Governor of Yi Province (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing). When Liu Zhang heard that they were in Jing Province, he sent people to fetch them to Yi Province. Lai Min followed his sister and brother-in-law to Yi Province, where Liu Zhang treated him like a guest.[6]

Lai Min was known for being well read, well-versed in the Zuo Zhuan, and for specialising in lexicographical works such as the Cangjiepian and Erya. In particular, he enjoyed studying ancient Chinese script styles.[7] He frequently debated with Meng Guang, another guest scholar living in Yi Province, over the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu) as each of them preferred a different commentary on the Chunqiu: Lai Min and Meng Guang specialised in the Zuo Zhuan and Gongyang Zhuan respectively. Meng Guang was notorious for being loud and annoying during his debates with Lai Min.[8]

In 214,[9] after the warlord Liu Bei seized control of Yi Province from Liu Zhang, he recruited Lai Min to serve in the education office of his administration.[10] During this time, Lai Min worked with a group of scholars on the codification of procedures and rituals. However, the project ended up dissolving into squabbles.[11]

Following the end of the Eastern Han dynasty in 220, Lai Min served in the state of Shu Han, founded by Liu Bei in 221, during the Three Kingdoms period.[12] Liu Bei appointed him as Household Steward (家令) to take care of Liu Shan, the Crown Prince. When Liu Bei died in 223, Liu Shan succeeded his father as the emperor of Shu.[13] After his coronation, Liu Shan appointed Lai Min as a General of the Household (中郎將) in the Huben (虎賁; "Rapid as Tigers") division of the imperial guards.[14]

Between 227 and 234, Zhuge Liang, the Imperial Chancellor of Shu, launched a series of military campaigns against Shu's rival state, Wei.[15] Hanzhong Commandery served as the base for launching each campaign. During this time, Zhuge Liang summoned Lai Min to Hanzhong Commandery and appointed him as an Army Libationer (軍祭酒) and General Who Assists the Army (輔軍將軍) to assist him in the campaigns. Lai Min was later stripped of his appointments for committing an offence.[16] Zhuge Liang wrote in a memo why he decided to fire Lai Min:

General Lai Min once told his superior(s): 'What achievements have the newcomers made to give them the right to steal the glory away from me? If they all hate me, so be it.' In his old age, he turned insolent and rebellious, and started voicing out such perceived grievances. In the past, when the Late Emperor first settled in Chengdu, many officials accused Lai Min of stirring up dissent. However, as the Late Emperor was concerned about maintaining political stability in the newly established administration, he tolerated Lai Min but did not put him in any key appointments. Later, when Liu Zichu recommended Lai Min to be the Crown Prince's Household Steward, the Late Emperor was unhappy but he could not bear to reject Liu Zichu's recommendation so he agreed. After His Majesty came to the throne, I heard of Lai Min and decided to let him serve as a General and Libationer under me – despite having heard negative views of Lai Min from many colleagues. I chose not to be swayed by how the Late Emperor treated Lai Min, as I believed that I could positively influence Lai Min and change him for the better. Now that I have failed to do so, I have no choice but to strip him of his appointments and send him home to reflect on his behaviour.[17]

Following Zhuge Liang's death in 234,[18] Lai Min returned to Chengdu, the Shu imperial capital, to serve as the Empress's Chamberlain (大長秋). He was fired again later. After some time, he was recalled back to serve as a Household Counsellor (光祿大夫), but was removed from office again shortly after. Throughout his career, he was demoted or fired several times, either because he had no filter when he spoke or because he behaved inappropriately.[19]

At the time, Lai Min's old debating rival, Meng Guang, was as equally notorious for being unbridled in his speech and was, in some ways, worse than Lai Min in this regard. Meng Guang not only carelessly divulged state secrets (probably due to a slip of the tongue), but also discussed politics in an inappropriate setting. Nevertheless, both of them got off lightly because they held much prestige among the literati for their status as learned Confucian scholars.[20] Lai Min, in particular, came from an elite family background and had previously served as an attendant to the Shu emperor Liu Shan when the emperor was still crown prince, therefore he was able to return to service every time after he got fired.[21]

After Lai Min's string of incidents, the Shu government specially appointed him as General Who Behaves Cautiously (執慎將軍). The name of his position was meant to remind him to be mindful of his speech and conduct.[22] He died sometime between 258 and 263 at the age of 97 (by East Asian age reckoning).[1]

Family

Lai Min's son, Lai Zhong (來忠), was known for being well-versed in Confucian studies and resembling his father in character. Lai Zhong and Xiang Chong once praised the Shu general Jiang Wei, who was so pleased that he recruited them to serve as Army Advisers (參軍) under him.[23]

See also

Notes
  1. Lai Min's biography in the Sanguozhi mentioned that he died in the middle of the Jingyao era (258–263) of Liu Shan's reign at the age of 97 (by East Asian age reckoning).[1] Based on this record, he probably died in the 260s and was therefore born in the 160s.

References
  1. (年九十七，景耀中卒。) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  2. de Crespigny (2007), pp. 401-402.
  3. (華嶠後漢書曰：豔好學下士，開館養徒衆。少歷顯位，靈帝時位至司空。) Hua Jiao's Houhanshu annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  4. (來敏字敬達，義陽新野人，來歙之後也。父豔，為漢司空。) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  5. de Crespigny (2007), p. 402.
  6. (漢末大亂，敏隨姊奔荊州，姊夫黃琬是劉璋祖母之姪，故璋遣迎琬妻，敏遂俱與姊入蜀，常為璋賔客。) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  7. (涉獵書籍，善左氏春秋，尤精於倉、雅訓詁，好是正文字。) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  8. (好公羊春秋而譏呵左氏，每與來敏爭此二義，光常譊譊讙咋。) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  9. Zizhi Tongjian vol. 67.
  10. (先主定益州，署敏典學校尉， ...) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  11. de Crespigny (2007), p. 401.
  12. Zizhi Tongjian vol. 69.
  13. Zizhi Tongjian vol. 70.
  14. (... 及立太子，以為家令。後主踐阼，為虎賁中郎將。) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  15. Zizhi Tongjian vols. 70–72.
  16. (丞相亮住漢中，請為軍祭酒、輔軍將軍，坐事去職。) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  17. (亮集有教曰：「將軍來敏對上官顯言『新人有何功德而奪我榮資與之邪？諸人共憎我，何故如是』？敏年老狂悖，生此怨言。昔成都初定，議者以為來敏亂羣，先帝以新定之際，故遂含容，無所禮用。後劉子初選以為太子家令，先帝不恱而不忍拒也。後主旣位，吾闇於知人，遂復擢為將軍祭酒，違議者之審見，背先帝所疏外，自謂能以敦厲薄俗，帥之以義。今旣不能，表退職，使閉門思愆。」) Zhuge Liang Ji annotation in Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  18. Zizhi Tongjian vol. 72.
  19. (亮卒後，還成都為大長秋，又免，後累遷為光祿大夫，復坐過黜。前後數貶削，皆以語言不節，舉動違常也。) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  20. (時孟光亦以樞機不慎，議論干時，然猶愈於敏，俱以其耆宿學士見禮於世。) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  21. (而敏荊楚名族，東宮舊臣，特加優待，是故廢而復起。) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  22. (後以敏為執慎將軍，欲令以官重自警戒也。) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  23. (子忠，亦博覽經學，有敏風，與尚書向充等並能協贊大將軍姜維。維善之，以為參軍。) Sanguozhi vol. 42.
  • Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi).
  • de Crespigny, Rafe (2007). A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms 23-220 AD. Leiden: Brill. p. 401. ISBN 9789004156050.
  • Pei, Songzhi (5th century). Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu).
  • Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian.
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